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Valkyrie Self-Propelled Gun
"If you can't beat them up, shell them when they least expect it." :- Lennart Daléus, Allied artilleryman Tactical Analysis * Artillery barrage: The Valkyrie is a strategic artillery piece mounted on an armoured truck able to fire at the enemy from extreme distances. In large battlefields it is useful for keeping the enemy on their toes, while they come into their own when holding objectives, for which they are superior. * Setup complete soon: The Valkyrie has to deployed before it can fire, in order to provide a stable firing platform for the 155mm howitzer. This can leave it vulnerable to retaliation, but fortunately the Valkyrie is designed so that it can pack up quickly, allowing it to avoid counter battery fire. * Don't come close!: The cannon is specifically made for long-range attacks, and the truck is otherwise unarmed to avoid slowing down the heavy chassis even more. If enemies get within close range, the Valkyrie is defenceless. * Unarmoured truck: The Valkyrie has its flaws; weak armour, a lack of accuracy, and slow speed all limit the Valkyrie's effectiveness. Operational History When the Third World War broke out in 1965, several flaws were quickly exposed in the Peacekeepers' arsenal, as they faced off against the Soviet Union. One of the biggest problems was with the Eclipse howitzer. When it was first designed, the Eclipse was designed with the mechanisation of armies in mind. To that end, it was designed to have more speed than the M100 Husky it replaced, and to have the ability to fire on the move. Unfortunately for everyone but the Soviets, the Eclipse proved woefully inadequate when it finally saw action during the Third World War. Though it could technically fire on the move, it was virtually impossible to accurately hit targets, which generally meant the Eclipse was forced to come to a full stop while firing. It was thinly armoured to maximise mobility, but this only made it easier for the Soviets to destroy it when they eventually caught up. Most dammingly, range and firepower were severely lacking, especially when compared to Soviet artillery pieces. After witnessing the performance of the Eclipse in several battles, the Peacekeepers decided to commission a replacement. Two contracts eventually went out; one to Renault Autowerks in France to develop what would become the Horizon, and one to Torshammar Artilleri in Sweden. The artillery piece that Torshammar eventually presented was the Valkyrie Self-Propelled Gun, which the Peacekeepers were very satisfied with upon seeing it in action. By any standards, the Valkyrie is a fairly conventional artillery piece. Though it still employs a similar 105mm howitzer to the Eclipse, it offers a much more stable firing platform, which allows for improved accuracy and range. It is also fairly cheap, allowing it to be deployed in bulk. Admittedly, it isn't much better armoured than the Eclipse it replaces, and it has to deploy before firing, which leaves it vulnerable to counter battery fire, but all in all the Valkyrie is a solid design, capable of supporting Peacekeeper forces with deadly artillery bombardment over long ranges. Behind the Scenes The nationality of the Valkyrie may be a reference to the famous Swedish Bofors artilleries, the model itself resembling the Bofors Archer Artillery System. The machine is also something of a reincarnated Pacifier, deprived of the hover ability and self-defence machine guns. Besides, the Archer looks way cooler than the Pacifier. Just the Stats Category:Units Category:Units Originating from Sweden